93 
PILCHARD. 
body of fish from being killed by strangulation or their own 
struggling weight: in which case the whole would be lost 
together with the scan, since no human force would be able to 
raise to the surface a thousand hogsheads of Pilchards after 
they were dead. 
The work of cui-ing the fish is performed^ by women; by 
whom they are piled up in careful order against the walls of 
the cellar: a layer of fish alternately with a layer of salt; and 
in this state they remain for thirty days, during which the oil 
and brine are suffered to drain from them into pits prepared 
for the purpose. The fish are then taken out and sifted, by 
which means the dry salt is separated from them; after which 
they are carefully washed, and placed in regular order in casks, 
each of which measures fifty gallons, and the staves of which 
are placed together with crevices, so that the oil with which 
they abound may on pressure readily escape. As these casks 
stand upright, a stout circular boai'd is laid on the open end, 
and on this pressure is made by means of levers, to which 
heavy weights are attached; and the fish being thus repeatedly 
pressed down and the casks refilled for the space of nine days, 
and until the weight of the barrel is four hundred and seventy- 
six pounds, they are finaUy closed up and mai-ked for 
exportation. It may here be noticed that the excellent natur- 
alist Ray committed a singular mistake in the account he has 
given of the manner in which Pilchards were cured; but which 
may be accounted for and excused by the consideration that 
at the time of his visit to St. Ives, which was on the 1st. of 
July, he could not have seen the work in operation. He 
represents the pressing of Pilchards as effected by laying boards 
along the surface of “the bulk,” (as “he conceives,”) and “so 
press the fish equally.” His informant appears to have thought 
the employment of a barrel so much a matter of course as not 
to require to be noticed, and the naturalist omitted to inquire. 
When the fish thus pressed are in the best condition eight 
or nine gallons of oil have been obtained from a hogshead; and 
so large a quantity is to be explained by the fact that not only 
are the entrails coated with fat, but the muscular structure of 
the body also; in which circumstance this fish differs greatly 
from the Herring, the oil of which is only obtained from the 
entrails; hut the quantity of oil from the Pilchard diminishes 
